They start saying ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’ when you insist, and insist every time they don’t. It gets harder in the teens to twenties, when they start you wondering if you’ll ever get to an empty nest (and these days, the earlier ones come back!)
BTW: Mommy’s already been there, and made that 4th-panel decision, or there wouldn’t be anybody asking that 3rd-panel question now, polite or not…

Ma and never had problems with our manners. In fact, not only did she get complements about us four, years later she was getting ’em about her grandkids as well. We may be ornery, but we know when to put a lid on it.

One of the secrets: If Pop had to step in, we were really in trouble. He could snap his fingers, and we would have his attention. But his snap was loud, and could be heard in a crowded room. The parents rarely had to raise their voices. We thought the brats we saw were annoying anyway, so why be like them?

There is this one neighborhood kid who is about four or five I think (maybe younger?) and he would say please and thank you and all that nice stuff. I met him when another neighbor had a little cookout in their back yard and the kids would play with water balloons. The little kid would say “could I have the hose please” and beg us forever. Then, if he ever got hold of it, he would spray everyone in the face. It’s not fun. It’s not just words that makes a kid impolite.